I've dedicated over four decades to my passion for athlete representation and being an agent of change. My client roster has boasted a multitude of premier athletes and “Hall of Famers” spanning over multiple professional sports, including the likes of Steve Young, Troy Aikman, Warren Moon, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, Ben Roethlisberger, Erick Karros, Dusty Baker, John Starks, Lennox Lewis, & Oscar De la Hoya. I've pioneered the convergence of the sports and entertainment industries and is credited as the real life inspiration for the lead character from the film “Jerry Maguire.” During my time of more than 40 years in the industry, I've represented the #1 pick in the NFL draft a record setting 8 times and has negotiated well over three billion dollars in contract deals for his clients. My passion for helping others has always been a cornerstone of my practice as my athletes retrace their roots to the college and high school levels and dedicate themselves to aiding those in need.

How To Be A Great Sports Agent: Part Four

The NFL Draft is fast approaching–it is held April 25th through 27th in New York City. What used to be a difficult process to follow, with episodic radio reports and next day newspaper results has been transformed into a three-day media extravaganza. The week surrounding the draft is filled with multiple-media coverage, events, sponsorships and activations. An agent with clients who are prospective draftees will experience a Ramadan-type next month filled with frenetic activity. Preparing and guiding a draftee through the process of scouting is the building block of any successful sports practice.

No absolute rules or necessities exist to determine the proper strategy. It is the player’s prerogative to decide how best to display his talents in the process. The agent role is critical in guiding the approach. First step is to know the client thoroughly. Players should be asked to spend time insightfully looking into their heart to reveal what their true goals and priorities are. How critical are values such as: 1) short-term financial gain 2) long-term financial security 3) family 4) spiritual and religious beliefs 5) geographical location (weather, size of city, proximity to home) 6) profile & endorsements 7) winning team 8 ) quality of coaching 9) starting 10) system 11) facilities 12) supporting cast.

Clarity in this process helps fulfill a clients’ greatest hopes and dreams as they define them. It is then necessary to have the clearest and least defensive view of how teams rate players going into the process. Teams have scouted players in college based on the triangle figures 1) size 2) strength and 3) speed, 4) athletic ability 5) agility and flexibility 6) intelligence and 7) character. The first part of the assessment is “in the bank” at the end of the regular season. The draft however, is not a merit badge handed out for conspicuous college performance, it is a projection as to how a player will perform over the next ten years. A second season of scouting has developed which can be every bit as determinative as what has occurred before, and players need to know what they need to work on to enhance their chance for success in the January through April period.

Players now engage in elaborate training in the period between their last game and the Scouting combine in February and the agent takes on the financial and advisory role in the process. As recently as 2005, I was asked by a father what my training program was. My response: “From 1989 to 2005 I represented the very first player in the first round of the draft–impossible to be selected higher–and they all trained themselves at their universities with the help of the staff”. He responded “then we can’t select you” and a new era had begun.

Elaborate training facilities and programs have arisen to meet the need. Players usually are focused on nutrition, strength and weight training, and prepared for the combine drills in January and February. I monitor these sessions closely to chart the progress physically and skill set wise of a client. A state-of-the art program transforms weary bodies into RoboAthletes and the improvement is marked. We prepare players for the twenty-minute interview process with teams using a former NFL exec. We give them our own intelligence test so they are prepared. One year I had a player score a 11 on the Wanderlic, we had him tutored in test-taking and the next time he scored a 27.

We use a physician to monitor their injuries. The NFL is obsessed with speed, it is the variable that vaults or diminishes draft status most dramatically. So we hired a speed coach who produced the fasted player at the combine by having him “count steps”. We also had a player set the record one year for most 225 pound lifts.

The first “second season” events are team bowl games. Then the focus turns to All-Star games like the Senior Bowl. For a week players are scouted daily at practices as well as the game. Playing in these games is voluntary. Attendance at the Scouting Combine is mandatory. Every single team executive, coach, asst. coach and scout is present in Indianapolis for the week. Players are weighed, measured, tested for banned substances and given intelligence tests. They receive the most thorough physical exams imaginable–if they have a tender spot, multiple physicians will put stress on it. Players choose whether to compete in physical drills including a 1) 40-yd dash 2) vertical leap 3) horizontal leap 4) lifts at 225 pounds and 5) lateral drills. Players can choose to display their position talents in workouts. For a quarterback, a session throwing to receivers is the “Super Bowl of Testing”.

The action then returns to college campuses in March and early April for “Pro Scouting Days”. The same tests and drills given at the Combine are administered all over again. Clubs especially interested in a player may return to campus for a specialized workout. Teams compile their Draft Boards by position and by overall athletic rating and prepare to draft.

The key to being drafted high is to have an individual franchise “fall in love” with a player and desire him specifically, not simply to feel that he would be a good player for someone. All of scouting is a search for enough teams with real passion for a player to drive him to the top of the draft. Having the most accurate assessment of how a player is rated throughout the process is necessary to be flexible strategically. No one tells a draftee which scouting events he should perform at and in what order. The agent is crucial in understanding the process and which activities will show the player at his best.

Making sure that a player is courteous and cooperative and interacts well with teams is important. Character is key. A team is risking guaranteed bonus and a damaging hit to their salary cap if a player has behavioral problems or motivation problems. The player is applying for employment and the burden is on him to explain his past and deal with whatever concerns a team has. He also has to be rigorously disciplined in avoiding any incidents of any kind in this period. Teams will be in touch with the agent in the weeks leading up to the draft, so it ought not be a surprise who is interested. If a team gets a sense that the agent is planning a difficult negotiation it can point them in a different direction.

Successfully guiding a client through this process builds a bonding and confidence in the relationship that will last a lifetime. The ultimate question on the night prior to the draft is: “Was there one single thing we could have done more to have enhanced the chance for this hopeful player to be drafted any higher”. If the answer is negative, get ready to enjoy the single most exciting, dramatic moment of a players’ career to that point. A day like no other.

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